The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) is stunned by a claim that four of its seats had been awarded to the United People's Party (UPP).

UPP's Engkilili assemblyperson Johnichal Rayong is reported as saying that Chief Minister and State BN chairperson Adenan Satem had “approved” him and three UPP assemblypersons to contest in the 11th state election as BN candidates.

Rayong, who is also UPP vice-president and Youth chief, reportedly told The Borneo Post this after the UPP Central Youth committee meeting held at the UPP headquarters in Pending last Friday.

 

SUPP leaders refused to make any comment when contacted today, except to say they were stunned by the claim.

 

They might issue a statement later, after a meeting, but pointed to the stand made recently by SUPP President Sim Kui Hian ( left ).

 

Sim had said that SUPP would not allow any of the 19 seats allocated to the party to be contested by UPP, which was formed by a group expelled by SUPP last year for breaching the party discipline.

 

All the seats, including the four held by the UPP incumbents, belong to SUPP, Sim had declared.

 

They would strongly oppose if the chief minister were to allow the four seats (Bengoh, Opar, Engkilili and Bawang Assan) to be contested by UPP.

 

“Our chief minister knows very well whose side we are on, and we (UPP) are staunch supporters of his leadership. The four of us are a strong team, and we believe the people in our respective areas are behind us.”

 

The other UPP elected representatives are UPP president Wong Soon Koh who is Bawang Assan assemblyperson and Minister for Local Government and Community Development, Jerip Susil (Bengoh) and Ranum Mina (Opar).

 

The four seats are Dayak-majority seats.

 

Rayong ( left ) advised SUPP not to touch bumiputera-majority areas as bumiputera voters in Bawang Assan, Bengoh, Engkilili and Opar no longer had faith in SUPP. 

He told SUPP to mind its business in state constituencies it now holds, which are Simanggang (held by Datuk Francis Harden Hollis) and Senadin (Lee Kim Shin).

 

State BN secretary-general Stephen Rundi was not available to confirm the claims made by Rayong and UPP.

 

'Merger of minds'

However, last Friday the president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), James Masing, said that PRS, SUPP and SPDP would continue with the policy of the so-called the “merger of the minds” to help one another in the coming state election.

 

Masing, who is minister for land development, said his party had nothing to do with UPP and Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).

 

Meanwhile, a former leader of SUPP questioned the truth of the statement made by Rayong, that the chief minister had confirmed that the four representatives from UPP would be the BN candidates in Bengoh, Opar, Engkilili and Bawang Assan.

 

Although the chief minister as chairperson of the State BN had the prerogative to choose a candidate, he should consult SUPP leaders on this. Otherwise, there would be chaos, said the former leader, who did not wish to be named.

 

There must be a meeting to discuss the issue and there must be consensus, too, among the BN parties to allow UPP and Teras to be admitted to the family of BN, he said.

 

“The meeting to discuss the admission of the two parties into BN is yet to be called - what more on the selection of candidates from UPP and Teras,” he asserted.